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A More Meaningful Citizenship Test? Unmasking the Construction of a Universalist, Principle-Based Citizenship Ideology

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A More Meaningful Citizenship Test? Unmasking the Construction of a Universalist, Principle-Based Citizenship Ideology A More Meaningful Citizenship Test? Unmasking the Construction of a Universalist, Principle-Based Citizenship Ideology Julian Wonjung Parkt INTRODUCTION In September 2007, the United States Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS 1) unveiled the final one hundred questions to the new citizenship test, created by USCIS to be "more standardized, fair, and meaningful '2 than the current naturalization exam.3 The new exam is the result of USCIS's seven-year test development project, costing a reported 6.5 million dollars.4 Focusing on American civic values, the new test includes one hundred Copyright 0 2008 California Law Review, Inc. California Law Review, Inc. (CLR) is a California nonprofit corporation. CLR and the authors are solely responsible for the content of their publications. t J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law, 2008; PH.D., Yale University, 2005; M.A., Stanford University, 1998; B.A., Stanford University, 1997. 1 would first like to thank Victor Hwang for teaching the course "Asian Americans and the Law" in the spring of 2007 and for providing me with the forum to develop this topic. His patience and generosity was much appreciated. I would also like to thank Professor Leti Volpp for looking at drafts of this Comment and providing me with timely feedback. I would further like to thank all the members of the California Law Review for their assistance throughout the various stages of this Comment. In particular, I would like to thank Angela Hollowell-Fuentes for her expert reading of the first draft of this Comment; Mayte Santacruz Benavidez for her thoroughness in checking sources; and Aaron Gershbock for his meticulous attention to details during the final read. Finally, I will always be grateful to my mother and my family for their unwavering support as well as HJ Kwon for his companionship during the editing process. 1. On March 1, 2003, the services and benefits function of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) became USCIS, one of three Immigration and Naturalization organizations to join the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It is in charge of administrating as well as setting policies and priorities for immigration and citizenship services. See USCIS, About Us, http://www.uscis.gov (last visited Mar. 11, 2008). 2. USCIS, Redesigned Naturalization Test, http://www.uscis.gov/natzpilot (last visited Mar. 11, 2008). 3. See News Release, USCIS, USCIS Announces New Naturalization Test (Sept. 27, 2007), availableat http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/NatzTest_27sepO7.pdf. 4. Press Briefing, USCIS, Pen and Pad: New Naturalization Test 30-33 (Sept. 27, 2007), 1000 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 96:999 revised questions, from which ten will be randomly selected during a given citizenship interview.5 The other parts of the exam, including the English reading and writing portions, will generally remain the same, except that they will include more civic-based content.6 According to former USCIS Director Emilio Gonzales, 7 the new exam is more about testing "meaning and understanding than rote memorization." 8 The revised test emphasizes "the fundamental concepts of American democracy and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship" 9 and "genuinely captures the applicant's knowledge of what it is he's about ready to be-a United States citizen." 10 In this way, USCIS's goal is "to inspire immigrants to learn about the civic values of this nation so that after they take the oath of citizenship they will participate fully in our great democracy."" USCIS will implement the new test nationwide beginning October 1, 2008.12 The change to the citizenship test marks the first time that USCIS has revised the test since INS, the predecessor organization of USCIS, implemented an official naturalization exam in 1986.13 USCIS began a test development project in 2000 and launched a four-month pilot program in February 2007.14 During the pilot phase, USCIS sampled 142 revised exam items in ten U.S. cities' 5 with more than 6,000 volunteer citizenship applicants. 6 USCIS, (transcript available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/natzrndtbl_72sepO7.pdf). 5. I have attached both the current and the new test questions and their answers in the appendix. The current test, consisting of ninety-six items, is also available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/Flashcard_questions.pdf; the new test questions are available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf. 6. The vocabulary lists for the reading and writing components of the new test are available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/readingvocab.pdf and http://www.uscis.gov/ files/nativedocuments/writingvocab.pdf. 7. Emilio Gonzales resigned on March 13, 2008, effective April 18, 2008. See Press Release, USCIS, Statement by Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on the Resignation of the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (Mar. 13, 2008), available at http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr1205433952340.shtm. Gonzales served as the director of USCIS for over two years. Id. As of April 15, 2008, a successor has not been named. See Stephen Dinan, CIS Director Fights Citizenship Politicization,WASH. TIMES, Mar. 28, 2008, available at http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080328/NATION/543003641/10 01. 8. Press Briefing, Pen and Pad: New Naturalization Test, supra note 4, at 23. 9. USCIS, Redesigned Naturalization Test, supra note 2. 10. Press Briefing, Pen and Pad: New Naturalization Test, supra note 4, at 6. 11. Press Release, USCIS, USCIS Issues Questions and Answers for New Pilot Naturalization Exam (Nov. 30, 2006), available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/ NatzTestQsl 13006.pdf (quoting former USCIS Director Emilio Gonzales). 12. News Release, USCIS, supra note 3. 13. Holli Chmela, New Citizens Will Need Deeper Knowledge, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 1, 2006, at A26. See also Keun Dong Kim, Citizenship Exam Redesigned to Focus on Concepts Rather Than Trivia, 21 GEO. IMMIGR. L.J. 155, 155 (2006). 14. Fact Sheet, USCIS, USCIS Naturalization Test Redesign (Jan. 22, 2007), available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/natztestfs.pdf. 15. The new exam has been tested in Albany, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.; Charleston, S.C.; Denver, Colo.; El Paso, Tex.; Kansas City, Mo.; Miami, Fla.; San Antonio, Tex.; Tucson, Ariz.; 2008] A MORE MEANINGFUL CITIZENSHIP TEST? together with external stakeholders, 17 used the feedback from the pilot test to revise and pare down the questions to the final one hundred in the new exam. The prevailing criticism of the current exam was that it simply tested rote memorization of trivia, such as the number of stripes and colors on the American flag.18 As one spokeswoman for USCIS stated, the current exam "did not elicit enough civics knowledge and values we as Americans hold true," and the test did not indicate a "demonstrable knowledge that the new citizens were ready to participate in our government on the federal, state or community level."'19 To USCIS's credit, the new citizenship test is a marked improvement from the current exam. USCIS has taken a systemic approach to the naturalization process and has supplemented the new test with a range of study materials and opportunities for immigrants to learn about American history, civic responsibility and values, and the naturalization process. The new test also covers more substantive ground, includes a range of possible answers, has replaced many confusing and redundant items, and presents the questions in a more organized, coherent fashion. USCIS has also added some (albeit limited) items about women and Native Americans and reworded outdated, exclusionary language. Most significantly, the new test stresses the core concepts of American democracy, such as self-government, First Amendment freedoms, and the rule of law. By doing so, USCIS claims to have made the test more "meaningful"-that is, by following a basic U.S. history and civics curriculum, the new test provides applicants with opportunities to learn about, and Yakima, Wash. USCIS randomly selected the cities based on their geographic region and volume of citizenship applications. Id. 16. News Release, USCIS,supra note 3. The pass rate for the current exam on the first try is reportedly 84% while the pass rate for the pilot exam was 92.4%. See Press Briefing, Pen and Pad: New Naturalization Test, supra note 4, at 9. Ironically, while USCIS has increased the difficulty level of the citizenship test, various studies and surveys have reported marked decrease in Americans' knowledge of U.S. history, government, and fundamental democratic principles. See Eric Lane, Are We Still Americans?, 36 HOFSTRA L. REV. 13, 14-16 (2008). For example, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute reported in 2007 that the average grade on a basic civics test by American high school graduates was fifty percent and only a little better for college seniors. Id. at 15. 17. External stakeholders consisted of approximately 150 organizations that worked with USCIS on the test redesign and pilot program. Among them were English as a Second Language (ESL) experts, adult educators, historians, legal educators, ethnic organizations, current and potential applicants, students, and community-based groups. See FAQs, USCIS, USCIS Announces New Naturalization Test (Sept. 27, 2007), available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/ nativedocuments/FAQsRedesigned NaturalizationTest.pdf. 18. See Chmela, supra note 13, at A26. 19. Id. 20. See FAQs, USCIS, supra note 17, at 3. USCIS updated current study materials, including the Civics Flash Cards and the Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lessons, to correspond to the new test questions. Educational materials for the current test are available at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d la/?vgnextoi d=bb93667706f7d0 10VgnVCM 10000048f3 d6alRCRD&vgnextchannel=bb93667706f7d01 OVgn VCM 10000048f3d6a1RCRD. 1002 CALIFORNIA LA W REVIEW [Vol.
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